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FishAmerica Foundation Awards $10,000 to Support Summer Flounder Science
To
help advance fisheries science and promote improved
fishing access to summer flounder, the American Sportfishing
Association has
awarded $10,000 through the FishAmerica Foundation to support the Save the
Summer Flounder Fishery
Fund (SSFFF). The foundation’s grant will be leveraged
with $50,000 in additional matching funds from other
organizations and
agencies.
“The FishAmerica Foundation is proud to support SSFFF on their
initiative to advance fisheries science and promote improved fishing access to
summer flounder for those who enjoy
it and depend on its survival,” said Mike
Nussman, president and CEO of the American Sportfishing Association (ASA).
“The recent decision by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to significantly cut the summer flounder recreational
harvest in 2016 makes this all the more important.”
The SSFFF is working with scientists from Cornell,
Rutgers and
other universities, along with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), to
develop a more comprehensive
summer flounder model that more accurately portrays the size and composition of the fishery. Dr. Pat Sullivan from Cornell
University is leading the effort on developing the new stock synthesis model,
which he hopes will be ready for review
by the summer flounder stock assessment scheduled for 2016. The new model, if accepted by NMFS, will lead to better, more
accurate fisheries management.
“ASA has, from day one, been in the
forefront of supporting this
effort for better science, and on behalf of the
SSFFF board, I extend my appreciation to the foundation,” said
Nick Cicero,
Sales Manager at the Folsom Corporation. “With luck, this may be the start of a
new way
of dealing with NMFS and the beginning of a more cooperative relationship between user groups.”
As ASA’s
research and conservation
foundation, the FishAmerica Foundation empowers local communities to invest in
improving
sportfishing opportunities and habitat conservation through matching
funding and volunteer support.
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